Heart of Mentoring
Foundations of Birthing from Within
Course Curriculum
What is Mentoring?
Listening With All Five Ears
You can save all documents to your device by going to File > download.
Three Ways of Knowing
Five Words for Mindfully Engaging Video
Five Words for Mindfully Engaging Document
Introduction to Solution-Focused Dialogue
Steps to Solution-Focused Dialogue
Demonstration of Solution-Focused Dialogue Conversation with a Parent
Practice
Find a pregnant person, parent, or willing friend to practice this skill with you. Ask them to think of a worry or problem that is currently weighing on them. Engage them in a short discussion using Solution Focused Questions and the Five Questions framework.
Afterwards, consider the following questions:
What worked well in your discussion?
What do you notice is different about this approach to a conversation?
What might you do differently next time?
How is Birth LIke a Heroic Journey
Phases of the Heroic Journey
You can save the document to your device by going to File > download.
Archetypes of Birth
Overview of Archetypes: Attributes & Needs
Practice
Begin to notice the different archetypes in your every day life. This could be in movies or other media you watch or read, or within yourself and those around you.
Spend some time journaling about the characteristics that you notice, especially those that you feel most drawn towards or resistant to.
What archetypes are you able to identify with ease in people around you, or in books/tv?
What archetypes feel more challenging to identify?
Getting Started with Pain-Coping Practices
Assessing Parents Expectations: Scaling
Assessing Parents Response: Baseline
You can save the document to your device by going to File > download.
Pain Coping: Breath Awareness
Breath Awareness: Demonstrations
This video shows one of our certified mentors, Koyuki Smith, leading parents through Baseline and Breath Awareness. It is meant to be an example of how one mentor—during her training—did the process, and as a resource for your own learning and integration.
Here is an example of certified mentor Christine D’Esposito leading Scaling, Baseline, and Breath Awareness for parents in a virtual group class.
Practice
Begin by practicing Breath Awareness on your own five times with ice. Time yourself for one minute "ice contractions" with one minute in between each one. Make sure to switch hands in between each round. Notice places of surrender and resistance as you move through the practice, and notice what's working as you build repetition and rhythm.
Next, lead a pregnant parent, family, or group through a lively dialogue covering Scaling, Baseline, and Breath Awareness.
Reflect on what worked well and what you'd like to do differently next time.
The Labyrinth of Birth
You can save the document to your device by going to File > download.
Practice
Consider a Heroic Journey that you have completed, or perhaps are still working through. Create a mandala or map of the thresholds you have crossed at each phase (Preparation, the Call, the Ordeal, the Gates, the One Forbidden Thing, the Hook, and the Gates of the Return).
Trace the labyrinth as a tool of contemplation. Try making a labyrinth out of material you haven't worked with before... clay, sand, paint, objects found in nature, etc.
Teach a parent or group of pregnant parents how to make a labyrinth, and lead a lively dialogue on how the labyrinth is a metaphor for birth and postpartum.
Next Steps
Now you are ready to put all the pieces together for a prenatal class, or bring pieces of this work into your prenatal appointments!
Lead a pregnant parent/family/group through a birth preparation class. The pieces are typically used in this order, but can be moved around or "ordered" up by parents who would benefit from one of these maps at different times. You can also incorporate practical knowledge about birth, hands-on support, and other elements into your class or prenatal appointment.
Look back on the maps you've learned throughout this course and use them as tools when working with clients.